


Secrets

by hallefaye



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2018-10-26
Packaged: 2019-07-27 09:10:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16215950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hallefaye/pseuds/hallefaye
Summary: The war had been lost, and Hermione fled. She didn't look back and she didn't dare return for her own safety. But what if she could change the future?





	1. Drunk

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! 
> 
> In case you notice this work from FanFiction.net, don't worry, it's not a stolen work! I am the original author and have taken and redone this piece to my current writing style and am reposting it to AO3. 
> 
> Thank you and enjoy!

Hermione was drunk – beyond smashed. However, she didn’t really care and seeing how it was the fifth night this week she was drunk, she didn’t think she was going to stop anytime soon. As she sat in a Muggle pub in London, across from her flat, she was thinking about nothing and everything.

It had been two years since the Battle at Hogwarts and that was the last Hermione had seen or used magic. Even though Harry was successful in killing Voldemort, it caused havoc and the Death Eaters had won the battle, electing a new leader amongst themselves to rule over the wizards in their corner of the world. Of course, she wanted to go back and try to find her remaining friends, but she knew it was dangerous. She was a muggle, a powerful one, and knew the second she used magic she would be found and killed. She also wanted to know who the new leader was but knowing would be fearing even more for the friends she had left behind.

However, not only did she fear for her friends, but she feared for the kids of the parents who had won. The kids of the Death Eaters, who either participated in the war or would grow up in a hate filled world with dark magic around them. Even Draco Malfoy, who had redeeming qualities during battle.

“Yep,” she said out loud to herself. “I am definitely drunk again. I am feeling sorry for Malfoy, that little git,” she said as she downed the rest of her drink. She started to get up to go home but was stopped.

“Malfoy a git, huh?” a thick voice said from behind her. She turned and looked at the man, fearing she recognized him from somewhere. He had dark red hair, almost brown, that was down to his neck. From the side view Hermione had of him, she could tell that he was buff, looking like a muggle superhero. Despite how…ruggedly handsome he looked, Hermione couldn’t help but notice cuts, bruises, and scars across his face and body.

“Yes, Malfoy is the second biggest git in the world. What’s it to you?” Hermione asked, turning her gaze to her empty pint.

“I know a Malfoy, and I agree,” the man said, not looking directly at Hermione. She was intrigued and worried, considering he knew a Malfoy. To her knowledge, none of the Malfoy line extended out into the muggle world.

“Wait…you know a Malfoy?” she said turning towards the dangerous man.

“Yes, Granger.”

“How the fuck do you know who I am?” Hermione was now annoyed and slightly less drunk.  

“Now, that’s no way for a lady to be talking,” the man said with a chuckle.

“Well, this lady is drunk and demands an answer.”

“Granger, you are one of the smartest witches around, so I bet you can figure it out. But, please come with me. There is something we must talk about in private,” the man said before downing the rest of his own drink and leaving the pub. 

Hermione had to think for a second before leaving but trusted her judgment and went after him. Sure, the man could easily take advantage of her, but she was a witch and her instincts didn’t just go away. Hermione was on edge though but, despite the dangers, she knew if she didn’t follow the man, she would regret it. This was a small chance at getting some answers.

“This way, Granger,” the man said to her right. She followed him into the alley, not having a good feeling. When they were far enough away from the street and prying eyes, he grabbed her gently and pushed her against the wall. Something about him being so close scared her but was familiar and safe. It was as if he was…shielding her from the world. She quickly took stock of his being, noticing that he a good six inches taller than, fairly thin, but muscular and he smelt of fire whiskey, blood, and death.

“What do you want from me?” Hermione asked, hoping she didn’t sound as scared and intrigued as she truly was. She moved her face upward to look into his eyes but was met with only darkness 

“It’s not about what I _want_ , it’s what I _need_ you to do. If you can do this, you can save yourself, your friends, and the world. Can you do that?” He asked, slowly closing the space between them even more. Hermione didn’t even realize there was any space to close.

“I mean, I need to know what the task is first,” she said, ignoring the more burning question in her head.

“I need you to go back in time.”

Hermione pushed him away slightly, but he didn’t stagger far. “That’s impossible. All the time turners were destroyed years ago.”

“There is a spell, a dark one, that can send you back to my time at Hogwarts.”

“How far back would I be going? Would I be able to come back, or would I be stuck? What is my task exactly?”

“1971, my fifth year in school. I need you to go back in time and marry me,” the man said, stepping closer to Hermione again as if he had an agenda besides the mission.

“And why the hell would I do such a thing?”

“Because if you stop me from marrying my current wife, you could save the world as we know it. You are smart, beautiful, resourceful, and knowledgeable beyond belief. You are more useful to the world than Bella is.” And that is when Hermione snapped back into reality. She had heard that name too many times and it brought a wave of emotions.

“Bella…as in Bellatrix?” she asked laced with anger.

“Yes, and I need you to stop her, become her friend, and change the course of history. But, most importantly I need you to kill her.”

Hermione thought for a few moments, focusing on the words of the man who she now realizes is Rodolphus Lestrange.  At one hand, she was standing before a known Death Eater, someone who _lives_ to terrorize and kill Hermione and anyone that sympathizes with Muggles. More importantly, she wasn’t dead, and she had been in his vicinity for a while. Which meant there was a lot more to this situation and she needed a lot of answers before just hopping back in time.

“I have so many questions that need to be answered before I just hop back into time to marry you. Like, who are?”

“Come on, Granger. Even a smart witch like you can figure that one out. Rodolphus Lestrange, if you need it out loud. Next?” His words were friendly, but forceful like she was running out time to ask him questions.

“Why should I go back in time? How do I know that a younger you will protect and marry me? Won’t going back in time and killing her mess with the entire timeline?" 

“Always full of questions.  Look, I don’t have much time to answer these questions. I’m positive I was followed and the longer I stand here and talk to you, the higher chance you have of being killed.”

“Why should I believe that you won’t be the one to kill me?”

“I haven’t yet, have I?”

“No,” she said.

“Then you have my word that you are safe with me always. So here is the task. I will send you back in time and you have to become friend with me and the people I surround myself with. I will send you back with a note to give to the headmaster and the head of Slytherin so that you have clear passage. You need to specifically become friends with Bella, who is a year older, and gain her trust. If you can do this, you can overcome her and kill her before she has a chance to do any harm to anyone else or produce a child. If she gets the chance, it won’t matter if you kill her." 

“Produce a child? She doesn’t have any children.”

“Have you been so blind to what is going on with wizards? Yes, she had a child, born a few years before you, and she is the new ruler. Delphi is causing havoc and killing people left and right. When I allowed Bella to bear Voldemort’s child, I didn’t imagine a world left in dust." 

“How do I act like a pureblood? Will I need to change my appearance?” None of this was making sense to Hermione, and she wasn’t sure why she was asking questions as if she was planning on going along with it all. She could just walk away and relocate to stay safe in this world, in her own time. But, to imagine saving the world from all the heart ache and loss that she grew up with was a thought she had many times. And this was her chance to do it.

“I will teach you, but I don’t have time. So, I’m going to implant memories in your brain. This is going to sound weird, but you’ve done this already. I have memories of us, together, from my past. You’ve told me and change me, but you never succeeded with the mission. I _need_ you to succeed this time. It’s life or death.”

“I still don’t know about this. I don’t want to marry a Death Eater, and I sure as hell don’t want to become one. And, to kill? That’s asking a lot from me.”

“I’m not asking you to become a Death Eater. Narcissa never became one.” He had a point. “And you don’t want to marry me _yet_. But I’ve been told I’m very convincing.”

When he said this, he learned back into Hermione, pushing her into the wall. His hips slightly moved, and Hermione let out a small moan not realizing she was holding her breath. But, she still wasn’t convinced and she was still _very_ drunk.

“I’m not fifteen anymore. How am I supposed to age backwards? And what do you mean I go back in time?”

“I’ll be putting multiple spells on you for this journey. One to send you back, one to de-age you, and one to protect you from death. In a few years, you figure out what is going on and go back in time on your own. We had some relationship, but I don’t remember it well.”

“If I do it, how do I know you won’t kill me upon realizing that I am a muggle?”

“Because of you, I don’t hold the same views as the others. I don’t know remember how you did it, but I’m positive you can convince me.”

The man, Lestrange, said she would be going back to 1971. A different time, a different place, but with a lot of the same beliefs. It was going to be the beginning of the Second Wizarding War, and a lot of the people who stand with her would just be a figment of her imagination. She would be utterly alone on this mission. She didn’t know where she would end up or how she would get back to the present day.

“Can I come back?” she asked as she refocused her eyes onto his. It was the first time she was able to look into his eyes, and they were as black as the night but full of hope. His exterior looked like Death Eater, but his eyes said a different story.

“No.”

“How can two Hermione’s live in at the same time.”

“I don’t know. But you are smart enough that I am sure you will figure that out.”

“Okay. I’ll do it.” At the end of the day, she wasn’t doing it for the man who stood before her. This was for Ron, and any future she might have with him. This was for Harry and getting the chance for him to be raised by his parents instead of by the stories of who they were. And for her future self. 

“Good. You will leave now,” he said, moving away from Hermione, her body already reacting to the increased space behind them.

“Now?” 

“Yes.” 

“Why now?” she asked.

“Because if you don’t leave now, you will probably die. We’ve been here too long already. Be careful, Granger. The 70’s are a dangerous place,” Lestrange said, waving his wan in the air, saying incantation in a language Hermione could not place.

The last thing she saw was a wave of his wand and a light that flashed before her eyes as she was sucked into a hole, moving quickly and yet not at all. With a thud, she landed on the ground – soft and grassy. She slowly got up, looking around. The castle was a few feet away from her, but she couldn’t see the Whomping Willow in the distance. She knew the tree had been placed sometime in 1971, but she wasn’t sure on when. All she knew, was that she was utterly alone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Same air, new year. Hermione begins her mission and realizes she is in way over her head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: The timeline is not correct with canon. Bellatrix graduated a year before the Marauders attended Hogwarts, but for the purpose of this story, and canonically speaking, it makes more sense for all of the main characters of this story to attend school together for at least a few years.

Hermione walked up to the front doors of Hogwarts, not knowing what was going to be on the other side. She didn’t even know what day or time it was. As she moved her hand to the door handle, she realized she was in a basic Hogwarts uniform, and her head hurt with more memories than had been in there before. Once she walked through the doors, she took a look around. The air felt the same as she remembered but she couldn’t hear the bustle of people.

Her first instinct was to get to the Headmaster’s office. If her timeline is correct, the Headmaster should be Dumbledore since it was 1971. However, he had never disclosed the year he took over from Dippet. The way to the office was in the back of her mind, never forgotten. She easily got there in a few minutes, thinking about how the last time she saw the halls of Hogwarts, they were falling.

Before she could attempt to say a password, the stairs opened up. No one walked out, so she deemed it safe to trek up to the office. She didn’t know what was going to be waiting on the other side of the door, but she was calm and collected enough to know no harm would come to her.  

“Professor?” she asked closing the door behind her.

“Come in,” she heard a familiar voice say from the sitting area of the office.

“Hello Professor, may I talk to you?”

“Of course,” the man said walking her way to greet her. The man in front of her was, much to her relief, Dumbledore looking slightly younger than she remembers, but not by much. And alive, which was a different thought in itself. “May I ask who you are and why you appeared on the grounds all of a sudden?”

“Oh yes, I’m sorry. My name is Hermione Granger. As crazy as this sounds, I was sent from the future to…to save the world.” She tried to take stock of Dumbledore’s reaction, but there was none.

“My dear, that is very intriguing, but I’m not quite buying it. 

“Yes sir, I understand. I don’t quite believe it myself. May we sit and talk about it?”

 “Yes, please sit,” he said as the chairs at the desk moved backward so that she may sit comfortably. “So please, explain.” 

“Well, sir, again I’m Hermione. I was born in 1979 and started at Hogwarts in 1991. My time at Hogwarts was filled with violence and hiding as a Muggle-born during the second terrorizing of Lord Voldemort. In the year 2000, I was approached by the Rodolphus Lestrange of the future to come back and save the future of the Wizarding World. Sir, Dumbledore if I may, I don’t want to put your position at risk and I don’t want to create a time vortex or disrupt the timeline in any way that does not personally affect my mission.”

“Ms. Granger, what _is_ your mission?”

“Sir, if I tell you, I would be putting you at risk.”

It was quiet for a minute, and Hermione thought that it was very diplomatic of him. However, it was also scary because a silent Dumbledore was not always the best Dumbledore. More so, Hermione realized for the first time that she was looking at a dead man.

“Sir, I can provide enough information to assure you I am who I say I am, and that I won’t affect the timeline or get in the way of the education of any of the students here. I’m not sure what kind of information you want or need, as I know this is not a usual request from students.”

“Yes, Ms. Granger, you are right. This is unusual and against all of the time laws. I am positive the Ministry has become aware of a jump. However, because you have jumped back as an underage student, there is very little they can do to you. There is also very little you can do off the grounds. That would limit your mission no?”

“Honestly sir, I didn’t think about that. I also didn’t have much time to think about the consequences before I was sent back by Lestrange. He didn’t give me much time.”

“Well, we can worry about that when the Ministry shows up at the door,” Dumbledore said, looking down at a parchment on his desk. Hermione thought for a second about what kind of trouble this time jump included. It affected the Ministry with unregistered time travel, it potentially affected the legality of her becoming of age again in a few years. She was far too drunk to think about the consequences besides not being able to see her friends again before she left.

That’s when she remembered that Lestrange put a letter in her pockets. She dug in and found one addressed to Dumbledore. “Sir, I have a letter that might address a lot of our concerns about my mission. Lestrange gave it to me before I jumped back in time.”

Dumbledore read over the letter, carefully scanning it of any curses or poisons as well as information that might help the both of them. He was quiet for a long time and it was making Hermione anxious. She didn’t know if the long silence was good or bad.

“Sir, what does the letter say?”

“Ah yes, it just explains the current events right before Mr. Lestrange sent you back in time and why this mission is so important to the future of our people. Do you know anything about this Delphini?”

“Not really, no. In 1998 I went into hiding in the Muggle world for good because it was no longer safe. I haven’t used magic or spoken to any wizards since then.”

“Well, according to this letter that was probably for the best. It sounds like she is much worse than Voldemort. The letter states that by any and all accounts, you must stop this Delphini from being born. It does not go into further detail of how, but I assume you will be smart enough to figure out a way to make that happen. So, what else do you need from me?”

Hermione had not fully thought about anything – everything had happened so quickly. One second, she was drinking away any emotions and the next she was back in the place it had all started. She had left _everything_ behind, not just her belongings. She left Ron and Harry, left her friends, her life, her parents were who knows where, and she didn’t have any money to her name. She continued her life in solitude and sorrow and she was content on dying there. So honestly, Hermione needed Dumbledore to tell her everything will be okay, and she will make a difference. That was what professors were for, right? But no, she wouldn’t get that. At least not from him. However, she needed money for supplies and clothes, a schedule, a room to sleep in, and to be placed in Slytherin house without the sorting hat.

“Yes sir, I have a list.” 

Hermione made her way down the steps from Dumbledore’s office feeling accomplished, completely sober, and content. She was in her favorite place in the world with a new challenge to accomplish. She knew she would be lonely, at least at first, but it was nothing different to how she felt on the train going to Hogwarts for the first time. It was upon the chance that she met Neville, and even luckier for her to meet Ron and Harry. This time, however, she wasn’t walking in as fresh meat like the other first years. She was assumedly fifteen years old walking into Hogwarts as a fifth year. There was a new dynamic to learn and a new house to experience. Hermione was excited, yes, but also extremely nervous with very good reason. If she failed, she could die or worse, be the reason hundreds of people would die in the future. If she succeeded, she would have to kill a person. 

However, she couldn’t worry that far down the road. The biggest worry she had right now was getting into the Slytherin dorms. Dumbledore had said she might have some trouble getting into the common rooms because she was, in fact, a Muggle-born, and to be careful trying to get in with other wizards. The portraits inside the common room might try to give her away. So, she quietly made her way back down to the main entrance and through the doors to entrance of her new common rooms. Hermione had never been inside, but from what Harry and Ron had told her, she knew to expect a lot of green and a lot of cold.

Once she got to the door, she whispered the password, but the door wouldn’t open.

“Salazar,” she said calm and cool, but the stone door would not budge. So, she continued to say it again, and again, louder and angrier every time. She knew, in the back of her mind, that it was because she was Muggle-born. But she also knew that Dumbledore said she should have no trouble getting in, that the door didn’t hold any prejudice. So, when the door opened, she was surprised and concerned when a young woman with beautiful long hair was on the other side of the door.

“Is there a reason you are being loud at this godly hour?” she asked, smooth like aged whiskey.

“Um, yeah, the door wouldn’t open for me. I think I have the wrong password.”

“That or you’re a Mudblood,” the girl said with snide.

“Nope, I’m sure I have the wrong password. Can I come in?” Hermione asked since the girl had yet to move out of the way.

“Do you belong in Slytherin house?” 

No, of course, she didn’t. “Yes.”

“Who are you?” 

“Her- Hermione Abernathy. Nice to meet you. I’m a new student since my family just moved overseas from America.”

“You don’t sound like you’re from America,” she said, still not moving from the doorway.

“Can I come in?”

“No.”

“Well, why not?” Hermione was getting frustrated. It was late, and she wanted to sleep, and she didn’t want to deal with her anymore. She asked too many questions.

“Because I don’t know you and I don’t think you belong in here.

“If you don’t move, I’ll make you,” which was a mistake, because Hermione didn’t have a wand at and was probably weaker than the girl.

“Bella, just let her through,” she heard a soft male voice from behind the girl, Bella.

“What if she isn’t a Slytherin? You _are_ a Slytherin, right?”

“Through and through, _Bella,”_ Hermione said, pushing her way through. Once Hermione was past the girl, she walked up the steps that Dumbledore had told her to take – the left set – and walked down the first hallway on the right. Everything was dark, cold, and green. It felt as empty as her heart yet gave her the breath of life she had been waiting for. It was comforting, something she didn’t expect from the Slytherin dorms. The last door on the right side of the hallway was the room she had been assigned, and she knocked on the door. She didn’t know if she had a roommate, all she knew was the dorm she had.

“Come in,” a light and beautiful voice said on the other side. She opened the door and was greeted by an absolutely gorgeous girl with soft features and striking blonde hair. Hermione had seen this woman before, but could not place from where.

“Hi, I’m Hermione. I’m new to Hogwarts. Um, I’m a fifth year.”

“They never let in people after their first year,” the girl said.

“I’m a direct transfer, from…Illvermorny.”

“What’s Ilvermorny?”

“The wizarding school in America,” Hermione said, placing her fewthings on the empty bed across the room.

“Oh, well then hello Hermione. I’m Narcissa,” she said, stepping across the room to meet Hermione’s hand.


End file.
